Joan Cortiella Garcia (Terrissa J. Cortiella)

DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK

Joan Cortiella is a potter who manufactures by hand all the pieces he carries out, being faithful to his family tradition, which goes back to the 18th century. Today, the potter’s factory J. Cortiella is the only one still running not only in La Galera, but among the entire region of the Montsià.

As his predecessors, he manufactures pieces for domestic use, gardening, etc. as well as pieces for the construction industry. This type of products were manufactured traditionally in large quantities until plastic, PVC and other synthetic materials appeared. Even if these materials are less long-lasting, more contaminant and of worse quality, they substituted traditional pottery. So much so, that for a few years they practically stopped manufacturing this type of pieces. However, from a few years back and until now, they have re-started to manufacture pieces for construction, either for rehabilitation of traditional houses or for new constructions. 

The pieces they manufacture are mainly destined to the drainage of water, the collection of rainwater (pipes, pipe elbows and ceramic gutters), filters and decorative chimneys. They are completely hand-made pieces manufactured with the aid of a wheel and sometimes with the aid of a wood mould.